Green chemical engineering aspects of reactive distillation

Reactive or catalytic distillation technology combines chemical synthesis steps with separations by distillation. This combination can lead to intensified, high-efficiency process systems with significant green engineering attributes. New applications and understanding have prompted growth in the use of reactive distillation for a variety of chemical syntheses, especially esterifications and etherifications involving oxygenated hydrocarbons. We describe several applications and the potential and tradeoffs for reactive distillation technology in the context of green engineering principles.